Ch.559559. The Empress of the Empire (1)

“Tasha’s hair is completely white, and she seems to be coughing constantly. Is she really okay…?”

“Her energy has dropped significantly. But I think she’s much better now. By the way, you met Tasha? Where?”

“What do you mean where? I just ran into her on my way to the office?”

“I told her to rest properly in her room, honestly.”

After all that groaning, she must be feeling a bit better. As soon as her condition improved slightly, she seems to be taking walks around the castle.

It would be better if she rested properly when she’s supposed to. I wonder why she’s wandering around outside when she’s only been recovering for such a short time.

With a spoonful of concern slowly rising, I explained to Sione in detail what had happened at the barony.

“…so Tasha.”

And as expected, when Sione heard directly about matters related to Magia, she focused on the story with an incredibly cold expression.

“You said Tasha managed to capture those who appeared to be the instigators.”

Sione, who began to scatter a chilling gaze, spoke in a cold voice.

“Where are those people now?”

“In the underground prison of the barony.”

The underground prison of the barony.

This place, which was originally a direct territory, was not only a domain meant to balance commerce and the western region.

It also served the role of capturing those involved with spies or cultists in the vicinity and extracting information from them.

They were placed in the quite professionally established underground prison beneath the lord’s castle. They must be having a pleasant time with the prison’s torturers.

“Regarding the Magia-related matters, Baron Akion seemed unaware of them. It looks like they carried this out under someone else’s instructions.”

Indeed, not only torturers but all necessary personnel are being provided for the interrogation. How long they can withstand such formal torture remains to be seen.

Unless they have the strength to endure until death or have some hidden card up their sleeve.

If not…

“We’ll be able to hear the rest of the story soon.”

They will eventually open their mouths under continued torment.

That’s what they exist for, after all. Since I know they’re paid quite well, I just believe they’ll produce results worth the money spent.

And furthermore, as if to suggest that our barony wasn’t the only place with such backstories…

Sione carefully began to bring up a new topic.

“Related to that, Ray. We found something interesting in Baron Akion’s territory that we’ve been occupying.”

“Something interesting?”

Instead of her usual cheerful demeanor, she had an expression as cold and emotionless as Ainel’s on the day I was first assigned to Sione.

“We found a hidden place within the barony.”

“Ah.”

“It seems they tried to erase everything quickly after the territorial war… but we managed to salvage a few things.”

“When you say salvage?”

I wonder what she found that raises such expectations.

As if suggesting it was no ordinary item, and as if she had been waiting for just this question…

Sione, who had grown confident, soon revealed its identity while crossing her arms.

“Two items that appear to have come from the Empire. And several secret letters regarding the rewards that the baron had promised to the families participating in this territorial war.”

Sione, who had grown confident, soon crossed her arms and flashed a grin.

“Of course, the secret letters are quite damaged, among other things… but that alone should be sufficient grounds to attack families other than Akion.”

The existence of these secret letters would be a means to clearly implicate and trouble the allied families with the same crime—whether they were in their right mind or not—of having directly discussed and agreed with Baron Akion, who committed three major wrongdoings.

“Furthermore, those people were all nobles belonging to Princess Amelie’s faction, right? The Queen seems to value the First Princess’s wishes more and is preparing to hand over the kingdom to her.”

Beyond becoming a shield that would prevent Princess Amelie’s faction from plotting anything further in the west…

“She’ll probably try to suppress the Third Princess, who has been particularly prominent, as much as possible.”

Even for the politicians in the royal castle in the capital where the most important lords of the country reside, this would be the optimal situation to reduce and put pressure on the power of Amelie’s faction, which has been steadily growing.

This definitive evidence from nobles who had been exchanging ideas and supporting her will would become quite cumbersome for Amelie.

“That’s good.”

Nobles who live and die by justification and politics.

If something like this happens, it would be much easier to attack her than if I were to denounce Amelie first and cause a scene.

So I was muttering with a satisfied expression, thinking about various things that came to mind.

“…?”

Sione’s expression, which seemed somewhat dissatisfied, pulled me out of my deep thoughts and back to the surface of consciousness.

“…It’s not fun. I thought you’d be all smiles and happy about it.”

When I belatedly showed her a bright smile at her words, Sione shook her head.

“It’s already too late, you know?”

At such a silly sight, we both ended up laughing carelessly, without anyone needing to go first.

After finishing our discussion about each other’s situations…

I told Sione:

“I’m thinking of changing the atmosphere of our family as we restore the territory.”

“Change it… like we talked about in the carriage before?”

“That’s right.”

Didn’t we already have a heart-to-heart conversation with Sione in the carriage?

That we had lost our original intentions and become complacent with the present. And that despite having sufficient strength, we seemed to have been too concerned with others’ opinions.

“The restoration project will be led by Tasha as our territory’s ‘Saint,’ and I plan to make our army properly prepared to fight and win against demons in the future.”

We will spread the emergence of a new saint and confront the Order.

Even at the cost of increasing military expenditure, we will reorganize the soldiers and knights to prepare for the coming war. A powerful military will be a good pretext for provoking resistance from those in power, but…

The reality is that I’m sick and tired of acting while being mindful of others’ opinions.

“I’d like you to focus on training until you become familiar with that power called ‘Starlight,’ if that’s okay with you?”

“Of course.”

“You probably won’t have time to tend to the garden anymore—”

“…I like the archery you taught me much more than tending to the garden, you know?”

To my question, Sione’s answer was naturally affirmative.

After talking a bit more and confirming that Sione’s determination was also firmly established…

Of course, we made more concrete plans on a larger scale.

Then I took out a piece of stationery from my desk drawer in the office.

“Stationery all of a sudden?”

“We have a lot to do ahead. But we need to avoid getting into disputes over every little thing, so I’m taking out some insurance.”

“Insurance… ah, don’t tell me—”

“What’s the point of having good friends if not to benefit from them at times like this?”

I rolled the pen tip.

Rather than trivial content, I first wrote down the recipient of this letter. The fountain pen glided across the paper, capturing one person’s name in black ink:

Adelheid Aisilia.

“The Princess will be sufficient insurance for us.”

Intending to gather her strength as our friend to carry out our plans…

I showed the elegantly written name and stationery to Sione, but…

“I understand, Ray. I get your intentions and everything, but…”

Why does Sione show such an unsatisfied expression?

Then she extended her slender finger to snatch the stationery and revealed the reason:

“…I’ll write the letter?”

“Ah.”

“Well, a letter to the Princess needs a bit more care.”

I thought my handwriting had improved a lot lately while handling official matters with Baron Benner.

Apparently, my handwriting was still messy and difficult to read.

“…”

Come to think of it, Baron Benner would always laugh awkwardly and read my writing diligently whenever he received something I wrote.

Now I understand why again.

* * *

The First Princess of the Kingdom of Aicilia, Adelheid.

She was currently standing on the land of the Empire, leading a luxurious delegation from the kingdom. The Empire had been in long-standing conflict with them across the border for many years.

On her way to the Empire’s capital, she was touring various territories and carrying out plans she had made with Edelin of the Great Forest.

“Haah… this is not easy either.”

The task of establishing the foundation for war through dragon language magic while evading the Empire’s gaze as much as possible.

Even for Adelheid, who was blessed with magic, it was by no means easy to scheme while avoiding the magical senses of the numerous talented mages in the Empire.

Having diligently fulfilled her duty today as well, she could only let out a deep sigh.

“Hmm, then I should rest early today.”

Adelheid stretched refreshingly.

“Tomorrow we’ll arrive at the Empire’s capital.”

After finishing this long tour, tomorrow they would enter the Imperial Palace of the Empire, where the Emperor, the imperial family, and the leaders of the political world were gathered.

Given that she was walking straight into the mouths of her enemies, she couldn’t show even a single suspicious move.

Just as she was preparing for sleep in light attire early in the evening to get sufficient rest…

“Your Highness, I know you said you would rest, but an urgent letter has arrived from the kingdom, so I’ve come to find you.”

She couldn’t help but furrow her brow at the sound of her servant knocking on the door.

“However, as it seems to be quite an important letter, I will leave it through the door crack. Please forgive my rudeness.”

But since it was said to be such an important letter…

“Really… what could be so urgent?”

She got up with a heavy body and read the letter left by the servant.

“Ha.”

After reading the quite lengthy letter in an instant, she finally burst into laughter.

“What kind of future did they foresee to go this far?”

Certainly, to this extent…

Even for a baronial and comital family that had established themselves as the rulers of the western kingdom, there might be some backlash here and there.

Also, while it was phrased as a proposal, the content was close to a notification.

But since the plan rather appealed to Adelheid, she felt relieved of the anxiety and irritation that had remained with her for a while.

“Well, it’s no different from saying they’ll use my name as they please.”

To this, Adelheid whispered in a much lighter voice:

“As a friend, I should help them this much.”

Looking at the story about the actions the Baron’s family intends to take regarding the Third Princess mentioned in the letter…

Being used by the Baron this once wouldn’t be such a losing proposition either.

“Well, if it comes to this.”

And so, as she lay back down on the bed, she only let out an extremely cold voice.

“I can focus entirely on the Emperor.”

Thanks to this, she could set aside worries about the kingdom and finally focus solely on the Iron Empress.